Hollands

Get an axe you pussy

best time to prune acer is summer so dont worry about them bleeding,

Thanks for that mate I'm in New zealand so its actually winter over here. My only concern is that the trees have already been damaged and by pruning them I am just adding to that damage. Hopefully I can at least make them look a bit tidier

It's winter over here paul. I'll get some pics up when I go round again. I'm just going to tidy up the cuts and hope for the best. The main tree has been completeley pollarded, quite sad as it would have been a nice tree, would be 100 years old (quite old for NZ).

thats what I thought mate, I'm a bit worried about them 'bleeding'

Have just got back from pricing a chipping job at a nice property. The gardener has apparantly told the owners he is a qualified arborist and given some really nice 'veteran' maples a hiding. I pointed out that he had not done a very good job and the owners are really worried about thier trees. I said there was not much I could do except tidy up his cuts and try to bring some of the stubs back to growth points etc. I will post some pics when I head over on friday. I was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of advice as to what to do with the maples. They have been hacked back in the usual fashion of gardeners, but as they have been pruned out of season I am wondering whether or not to tidy them up now or wait until they are in full leaf next season. Any comments much appreciated. Ta.

Adam

How much weight can you carry? I'm looking at geting a landcruiser tipper, but not sure the springs will handle that kind of weight day in day out. Do you get the springs beefed up?

ive only been doing it for 1 year or so.its tough going but yes practice does help,especially footlock and work climbing.work climb and aerial rescue carry the most points.its good fun and you get to meet fellow climbers and learn so much in a short space of time.after the 1st one you are hooked.been competing out here in nz and hope to carry on in europe this year.

2 - 2 Smith:sneaky2:

Just turning up is the hardest part mate. Have a plan for your aerial rescue. Get your footlocking under 30sec. Just enjoy it mate. First comp is pretty daunting, but watch and talk to other guys and the more you do the better you get. I've done about 4 comps and I'm only just feeling relaxed about them. The good guys practise alot!

Two points.

 

Firstly' date=' I agree, timber value often doesn't come in to it with arb work.

 

Presumably, the stump won't be getting left like that?

 

So, if its down to ground level, or is going to be ground out, you have to cut it off low anyway.

 

Might as well do it once, as twice, in my opinion.

 

Save time loading and less saw chips to sweep up.

 

If its got a bit of sand in the bark, you're going to have to sharpen your saw either way.

 

Secondly, arbs often fell stems, rather than whole trees.

 

So there's usually some kit on site to pull things over, and theres already a guy up the tree who can fit a pull rope.

 

Try knocking in wedges to fell a tree that size at three feet high and see how long your back lasts.

 

With a back cut 4-6" off the floor you just swing a heavy hammer and let the weight do the work.

 

In my experience, unless there is a very good reason for a high felling height, such as contamination or decay for example, there are more advantages to felling low than high. [/quote']

 

Nicely put ammer. I didn't think this was such an issue, I just enjoy giving Ross grief (old friends). But you can't really argue with these points.

Nice work mate can I see 3 ropes up there?

He means your high stump you amateur. Proper arborist would have felled that no more than 50mm from ground level. Tut tut mr smith tut tut

spark plug cover may be loose. Might be a faulty plug

its a pain in the neck mate. I spoke to someone about this the other day who runs a large tree company in christchurch. He said they have a set procedure where afetr 7 days they get a friendly phone call, then after another 7 days they get a not so friendly phone call, then after that its a letter explaining that if it is not paid in 24 hours the bill will be passed to a collection agency who give him the entire amount and then charge a collection fee to the client. Its harsh, but i bet he gets paid. I think its also a bit easier to do this when you are a larger more 'faceless' company. They say that cashflow is one of the keys to surviving as a small business, we all know it only takes a couple of weeks to get behind.

Not trying to hi-jack the thread mate just interested

Hey mate great pics its a really good activity for kids and so much more accesible than indoor climbing walls etc. Just out of curiosity, how were you getting them up the tree? I take my daughter who is 8 (looks about the same as your nephews) and I'm struggling to come up with a good climbing system for her so she can actually pull herself up the tree. We use a gri - gri at the bottom and I belay her, but what I really want is to be able to have her climbing with me. Anyone else have any ideas about a child friendly climbing system?

Glad to know you've made your decision. Just to answer your question, it was never clarified, I presumed if they wanted me to do it they were willing to pay. I planted the trees aswell, which swallowed some of the cost. Good luck anyway. It's an interesting topic.

I've done this before mate. I charged full rate. Was'nt as long, but a good couple of hours. They were happy to pay for 'expert' advice.

Importing can be pricey to,def bring it with you.BUt when you start working you just gotta think $ not pounds

Got to agree with that mate. You dont come out for the money, but the lifestyle is spot on.

gear is definately more expensive over here. If you have some quals, your in good stead, but experience is valued more than certificates. Its an awesome place to work as long as you are prepared to work hard. In fact I would say it is one of the few places left in the world where you can really be successful through sheer hard work. I've been here 9 years and I could'nt imagine working anywhere else.

I prefer Tana's system myself Peter. I have tried yours, but struggled with having my whole system right in front of me (there could be a way round that). With the other system you can use the dyneema and revolver to clip your footlock prussic to your t-shirt to keep your bridge tight and just clip your system into the revolver when your ready. I find my footlocking is alot smoother and quicker when I'm just using my basic footlock prussic. An alpine butterfly in each line with a revolver going through each is another good option, and its retrievable.

Looks great mate. Will it move if it hasn't been dried? I'm keen to get into this kind of thing. Also whats lime like as timber? I have a huge one to remove (heartbreaking) and was wanting to get the butt log milled. Cheers mate.

When your 3 year old knows the difference between a gum tree and a silver birch

When you talk about tree jobs to people and they dont understand how awesome you were

When you see a tree in the street you immediateley start mentally dismantling it

hey bro,

 

this is Matt Glen here. i have invented this idea. it is made by using 1 ascender and a bar going across it as a foot stand. it is amazing! i have been climbing for nearly 6 years and made my life/job so much easier. its great cos aslong as you have your footlocking strop on it doesnt need to be rated, as you are just standing on it. so if you slip you will just fall on ur footlocking strop as if you were footlocking.

 

the higher you go the weight stays the same to, and yet to try it on static rope but cant wait. i am going to set up a 15m ascent and see what times i will be getting hopefully in around 16 seconds. this is just a prototype at the moment and we ( treetools.co.nz) are just making finally adjustments and then it will go on sale.

 

basic thing is, no lifting rope and every lock is perfect. very easy to install and take of line.

 

climb safe:001_tt2:

Maaaatttttttyyyyyy! Kiaora bro. Good to see you on here.

I find its really comfy when i wear it lower down, but only if I dont attatch a saw. As soon as I have a saw hanging off the back it tends to slip too low.

I heard he was splicing 25 rope guides for some scottish guy. Must be taking up all his time.